Bellore 'probable' Saturday against EMU

By Anthony Fenech, Senior Reporter || September 15, 2010

Nick Bellore can hear the clock.

“Time is precious,” he said Tuesday as he stood on a tender right ankle at Kelly-Shorts Stadium.

Time is also ticking.

And Bellore, the Chippewas senior linebacker who was forced out of CMU’s 13-10 loss at Temple on Thursday with a sprained ankle, knows it.

“You have 12, 13, maybe 14 games a year,” he said, “And a lot of it goes unbelievably quick. You miss a quarter here, a quarter there, it’s just a lot.”

He injured his right ankle in the second quarter, after wrapping up an Owls running back, when his right foot was in the air, left exposed to a pile of football players coming his way.

“It happens almost every play in every game,” he said. “Just unlucky.”

CMU head coach Dan Enos said the chances of his standout linebacker being on the field Saturday against Eastern Michigan are “probable,” adding, “there’s a good chance he’ll play.”

And after playing only three quarters against Hampton in the season opener before missing the second half against Temple, Bellore can also feel his time on the sidelines ticking away.

“I’m chomping at the bit,” he said after missing his second practice of the week. “I want to be out there.”

Today, he will be out there, scheduled to practice on the injured ankle for the first time since the injury, after long days of 10-12 medical treatments and of course, rest.

“It’s just a matter of getting better day-to-day and focusing on the next day,” Bellore said.

To date, Bellore has started 43 consecutive games for the Chippewas. This season, he has recorded 13 tackles, third highest on the team.

He said that watching from the bench during the second half of Thursday’s game was tough, especially in a game of that magnitude.

“Being a huge game, it was hard,” Bellore said. “But I had full confidence in everyone out there. They’re tough players and they’re good.”

The process of getting the ankle back to game speed includes various medical treatments, light exercises and between 4-8 meetings with an electronic stimulating machine each day.

Bellore said the 10-day break after the Temple game is “awesome,” adding that if the team only had a week break, there would be “no way” he could play on Saturday.

“It feels pretty good,” he said of the ankle. “It’s getting there. Obviously, I’m going to try and go out.”
In that regard, coach and player are on the same page.

“If he is able to go, he’ll go,” Enos said, dismissing any notion that the team might be better served holding the linebacker out until a week later, when they travel to play a higher-caliber opponent in Northwestern.

“This is a MAC West opponent, we’re 0-1 and we have to get to 1-1.

“Nick feels the same way,” Enos added.

Kickoff time announced

CMU’s Sept. 25 game at Northwestern will kick off at noon and air on the Big Ten Network. The game marks the Chippewas seventh television appearance of the 2010 season.